Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 473 Man is about to die
Lu Xingzhou naturally came to understand his son from his father's perspective, wanting to know his understanding of the Prince of Qi as a father.

The result was this answer... which shows that Gu Zhanting simply didn't believe his son had this ability and preferred to believe that he had been possessed.

Lu Xingzhou coughed twice: "Um... Your Majesty, are you sure he wasn't hiding it all along, but that someone else was used instead?"

What I'm really asking is for an understanding of your son's character, not this kind of judgment. Your self-righteousness has repeatedly made you look foolish, and I'm starting to doubt you. You didn't even know Tangtang's leg was healed; where do you get the confidence to make this judgment?

Gu Zhanting shook his head slightly: "Perhaps you think I have been presumptuous many times and that you don't trust my judgment... For example, the fact that you were juiced at Longya is known to the whole world, but I don't believe it."

Lu Xingzhou answered honestly, "A little."

"But put yourself in my shoes. If you were me, even if you believed this, wouldn't you just think that Long Qinghuang was playing around with a gigolo? Who could believe that a ruler like her would really fall in love with a young man? It's like someone telling you that I am deeply in love with a certain woman and can't extricate myself from it. Would you believe it? Are you an ignorant woman writing a story in her sleep?"

Lu Xingzhou coughed again: "...That's true."

So it's actually a supermodel?

“Some things can lead to different conclusions depending on the perspective,” Gu Zhanting said. “For example, regarding some of Yitang’s affairs in Xiazhou, although I had people report important matters, I didn’t have them investigate every little detail… That’s because I always felt indebted to Yitang, and subconsciously avoided it, letting it develop unchecked. Otherwise, if I had paid special attention, I would at least have known whether her leg had healed or not.”

Lu Xingzhou said, "I believe that. His Majesty's feelings for Tangtang are complicated, and he can be seen to be indecisive in many ways."

Gu Zhanting said, "Let me put it this way... Yi Heng in the past was indeed a cautious and low-key person, and he also liked to do some scheming behind the scenes, which is very similar to his current temperament. Even if you ask Prime Minister Pei or Prince Dingxi, they will definitely say that Prince Qi has always been like this... but I just don't think so."

Lu Xingzhou's expression finally turned serious.

"So-called caution, in its extreme form, is cowardice and weakness. Yi Heng in his childhood and even adolescence was just like that. He had the idea but not the courage, and he hesitated to do anything. As the saying goes, you can see a person's future from the age of three. If a teenager is like this, what kind of upheaval do you think would make a cowardly person set up such a big plot to usurp the throne, and dare to do so even when I am in my prime?"

Lu Xingzhou squinted: "Indeed... a crucial change is needed."

"He once associated with Henghe and demons, and later attacked Yitang. I think he..."

"Wait a minute!" Lu Xingzhou exclaimed abruptly, "Who are we attacking?"

Gu Zhanting was taken aback, then suddenly chuckled: "That's true. It was indeed I who intervened later. Yi Tang herself didn't even know, so it's not your fault. At that time, Yi Tang was at the upper level of the fourth rank and was preparing to break through to the third rank. She specifically came to see me when she went to the capital, hoping to get some resources and support. She was twenty-two years old at the time, and breaking through to the third rank at that age has always been extremely shocking. It's just that the breakthroughs of the people around you that year overshadowed it, so it didn't seem so strange."

Lu Xingzhou said, "So you're wary?"

"Yes." Gu Zhanting did not deny it: "Back then, I was already over thirty when I broke through to the third rank. Facing a genius who was already preparing to break through to the third rank at the age of twenty-two, I was indeed jealous and wary. Especially since I saw another Ye Tinglan in her, the inner demon that had been suppressed for a lifetime burned my heart. In addition, since I have a son, I really did not want to pass the throne to my daughter... But at that time I restrained myself and even gave her a bottle of breakthrough pills and some treasures that would help her overcome the minor heavenly tribulation."

Lu Xingzhou said, "I've actually thought about that too. Even if His Majesty is wary of Tangtang, it would be too... low-level for him to personally intervene before she even reaches the third rank. You could have easily made her 'accidentally die' during the mission, why make it so obvious? But Tangtang herself identified you..."

"The real shock to her was the news that she was about to become a third-rank official. Both Yicheng and Yiheng couldn't sit still, but I originally thought that Yicheng would be the one to make a move."

"So you didn't intend for her to die in an accident, but you wanted your son to do it..." Lu Xingzhou's anger was hard to contain: "You're such a good father."

Gu Zhanting waved his hand: "At the same time, it also served as a test for the princes. So when Yitang was attacked in the suburbs of the capital, I saw it all from beginning to end, and I knew that Yi Heng was behind it."

Lu Xingzhou's face was as still as water.

“But the outskirts of the capital are too close. Yi Tang’s resistance is no small matter, and the commotion alerted Ye Tinglan. Once Ye Tinglan takes action, Yi Heng will be exposed, or even be killed by Ye Tinglan before he is exposed… So I took action.” Gu Zhanting paused here and sighed slightly: “Actually, at that time I felt that breaking her leg and banishing her was not necessarily a bad way to protect Yi Tang. If she continued to shine, I would be the one to kill her. I didn’t want to go that far.”

Lu Xingzhou said sarcastically, "So you're saying we should thank His Majesty?"

"No need for sarcasm. I know that what I did was biased and selfish. In order to protect Yiheng and also because of my own fears, I found an excuse for Yitang's sake to convince myself, and I even believed it myself." Gu Zhanting smiled. "But unfortunately, I was not like I am now back then." At that time, Gu Zhanting was troubled by his injuries and suppressed by Ye Tinglan. He was full of obsessions and inner demons. He had already secretly arranged the Mountain and River Sacrifice.

Now, Gu Zhanting is a prisoner, having lost all his cultivation, power, and obsessions. He no longer has the extreme self he once was, and has gained some of the meaning of "a dying man's words are good".

It's a pity it's too late.

However, Lu Xingzhou believed what Gu Zhanting said. The reason for breaking the leg instead of killing him directly was indeed partly due to his self-righteous intention to protect him, and his subsequent wavering and contradictory behavior was consistent with this intention.

At the same time, Lu Xingzhou also believed that Gu Zhanting did not deliberately frame Gu Yiheng, because if it was really something Gu Zhanting wanted to do himself, he would not have chosen to do it personally in the suburbs of Beijing. The logic makes sense.

So it was indeed Gu Yiheng who ambushed Shen Tang first.

“Even so, I might not have punished Yiheng back then, but he went so far as to have the entire Tianxing Sword Sect slaughtered.” Gu Zhanting said, “It was only after this incident that I realized Yiheng had gone too far and was furious. When he was demoted to a commoner, did you all think it was just to make him take the blame for me? No, I took one or two parts of the blame, but eight or nine parts were his.”

Lu Xingzhou took a deep breath, carefully checked it, and found that everything matched.

Gu Zhanting said, "I'm telling you all this not to make any excuses, nor to tell you the truth... I've forgotten that you don't know the truth, ha."

He even laughed self-deprecatingly at the end, and Lu Xingzhou also laughed slightly with a self-deprecating smile: "What does Your Majesty want to say?"

"What I want to say is that whether it was colluding with demons in his early years or attacking Yitang later, these are not things that a cowardly person would do. I originally thought he had grown up, from only daring to think about it to actually daring to take action, and I was somewhat gratified. But now, looking back, there is no reason for his change from beginning to end. He suddenly became this kind of person... Don't you think it's like possession? His low profile and reclusive lifestyle are also to minimize the possibility of being seen."

That sounds like possession, or a kind of inner demon, amplifying and releasing a suppressed part of one's temperament.

Just like Gu Zhanting before him, he was once a brilliant and ambitious emperor. The reason he turned into this is simply because he was too obsessed.

But Gu Zhanting's transformation was triggered by a deep-seated, unhealable wound, a clear cause and effect. But what triggered Gu Yiheng's change? There must be some reason, right? There isn't, so Gu Zhanting thinks it's more like possession.

After pondering for a long time, Lu Xingzhou finally nodded: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your peaceful communication and for providing information."

"I don't want to be schemed against like this by my son, nor do I want to hand over the throne to some unknown person, so there's no need to thank me." Gu Zhanting handed over the calligraphy he had just practiced: "Here you go."

Lu Xingzhou took it, a slight thought crossing his mind: "This is..."

I didn't feel anything when I looked at it, but when I held it in my hand, I discovered that there was a trace of auspicious energy in this calligraphy, which was integrated with the energy of the Great Qian Dynasty.

In concrete terms, many people still habitually regard Gu Zhanting as the emperor. Just as Lu Xingzhou still habitually says "Your Majesty" and Gu Zhanting himself habitually says "I," neither of them feels anything is wrong. Yang Dechang and the others had already retreated outside and were no longer listening; if they were still listening, probably no one would have thought anything was amiss.

This is an inertia brought about by decades of ruling the Great Qian Dynasty, unique to Gu Zhanting, and will inevitably exist in the short term.

Gu Zhanting turned back to his calligraphy practice: "I won't live much longer... He will definitely kill me, all for this vital energy that is one with me. Give this to Yitang, and tell her..."

Lu Xingzhou said, "Let her set things right and continue your reign in the future?"

"No..." Gu Zhanting said in a low voice, "I hope she is safe and happy. She can use this wisp of energy if she wants, or let it dissipate if she doesn't want to."

As he spoke, Gu Zhanting, who had been quite energetic, visibly turned his black hair white, and his handsome face began to wither.

In an instant, his face was covered in wrinkles and his hair turned completely white.

(End of this chapter)